Review: If you have ever wondered about reading an anthology of short stories hopefully this review will give you some insight. This was my first anthology that I have ever read and I have to say that I enjoyed it. I was not sure, at first, how it was going to be. I just did not think that I could relate and like characters in about 50 pages worth of a story but this book changed my mind. All I saw when I bought it was the pretty cover and some of my favorite authors, mainly Meg Cabot and Stephenie Meyer. There are many anthologies coming out with some of my favorite authors so I thought what the heck I will get it and see how I like it.

The Exterminators Daughter by Meg Cabot- This short story is about a girl named Mary who is sort of an all things paranormal exterminator. Her mother was kidnapped and held but Dracula and to get to her mother back she needs to kill Dracula. Problem is he is not coming for her, so she uses his son to get to him. I enjoy all things by Cabot and this didn’t disappoint. While it was not my favorite story I did enjoy reading it. It was a good short story that left me still wanting a little more from the characters and story, mainly to see where everything went from the ending, but it also left me satisfied if she doesn’t write a book on it.

The Corsage by Lauren Myracle- This short story was kind of a mild horror story based off of The Monkey’s Paw by W. W, Jacobs in 1902. This story is about a girl named Frankie is a little too eager to go to the prom with her crush, Will and makes a couple wrong wishes. The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for. While the second half was the horror part the first part had me almost laughing off my chair with more than one character in the story. I have never heard of Myracle until this book and I will definitely be checking out more books from her. I was not sure how I’d like it but I did, it was good.

Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper by Kim Harrison- In this short story Madison, also the main character from Once Dead Twice Shy, is singled out to be killed by a dark grim reaper named Seth. She wakes up only to find out that she’s dead with two light reapers arguing about who is getting in trouble for it. From there Seth comes to collect her body and soul but Madison will have none of that. With the light reapers help she faces the new challenge of not getting caught by Seth and being a normal dead teenage girl. Okay let me start off by saying that I think this book is a spin off of Harrison’s book Once Dead Twice Shy, therefore if you have not read the book, like I have not, then maybe you want to skip this story. Even though I have not read Once Dead Twice Shy I felt like I still had to read this short story. I have to say that it was also really good but I am worried that it is going to be very close to her novel and I just bought it. It is not that I would not like her novel it is just that I hope it did not give away any spoilers. That, and I am not a huge fan of authors taking their characters from their novels and putting them in short stories, it just does not work for me.

Kiss and Tell by Michele Jaffe- This story was a little confusing, you need more information, background wise, but basically it’s about a girl named Miranda who gets caught up in a kidnapping of her client that she drive named Sibby. While Sibby is kissing every guy she meets, she’s obsessed with guys, Miranda is trying to save them from “the Gardner” aka the hot deputy, oh yeah, and she also has these super powers kind of like wonder women. . This story was so funny! I really loved the main character she had me laughing pretty much throughout the whole story. This is one of those short stories that I hope becomes a novel, I want to know what happens next for these characters, and get a few questions answered. I have never heard of Jaffe either until this book so maybe she already has a book out on this. Either way I liked the story a lot and thought it was really funny.

Hell on Earth by Stephenie Meyer- This story revolves around angels and demons. It’s about a demon named Sheba that decides to ruin everyone’s prom for her own fun. And then there’s Gabe the all around good boy matchmaker who only wants everyone to be happy, seriously. What will happen when these two meet up? So, I have to say that the first four stories were all really funny in there own ways but this story is definitely toned down to a more serious story. I liked this story but not quite as much as the others. In this story Meyer has about a dozen people , some of which have short parts in the story, that are in the story, which made it a little confusing for me. It just seemed like there were so many people to keep up with and a whole lot going on. I really liked Sheba and Gabe and wish the story would have focused on them a little bit more. I did like the whole idea and hope she writes something like this soon! If she wrote a book about something like this I would be the first to buy it.

So overall my first anthology experience was good! I really liked it and have two more anthologies to read. The only thing I did not like was the feeling that I wanted more, as in a whole novel, from all of the authors. At least with Harrison I get one. It was a good way, for me, to learn about two new authors whose books I will be looking for. I still prefer novels but overall I really enjoyed this book or short stories.

Quotes

Cabot- “You see?.” Sebastian Drake is saying, as he lifts one of my hands and presses it, softly against his lips. “I’m not so terrifying, am I? I’m just like you, actually. Just the child of a-let’s face it- a very formidable person, who’s trying to figure out his own place in the world. We have our burdens, do we not, you and I, Mary? Your mother says hello, by the way.”

Myracle- “You opened the coffin?” I said“Yep.” She seemed proud. I wondered if she’d worn her juicy Couture during the grave robbing“That’s gross that it still has hair,” I said.“He still has hair,” Madame Z said. “Show some respect.”

Harrison- “That’s right,” he added, pulling his gaze back to me, and I shuddered. “You died on the anniversary of your birth. Two reapers. My, my, my. Such a drama queen, Madison. I’m glad you’re up. It’s time to go.”

Jaffe- “Good book?” He asked, taking it from her and reading the subtitle, “A guide for Good Girls Who (Sometimes) Want to Be Bad,” out loud.“It’s for a school project. Homework. On, um, mating rituals.”

Meyer- Bryan put his arm around her shoulders. “I thought you left. Guess I’ll have to cancel the hot plans I just made with Mrs. Fickle. We were going to sort failure notices by candlelight.”“Well, I wouldn’t want you to miss that! I think I saw Coach Lauder by the cookies. Maybe I could talk him into some extra-credit pull-ups.”“Or maybe we could just dance,” Bryan suggested.

Hey Jen sorry I did not get back to you sooner was on vacation with no internet. They're really not really that scary. They're actually way more funny. I think you'll be fine, and I'm sure you could take something on the scary side. The second one is a little on the horror side but not much. Plus there's a lot of humor in it to balance or tip the scales to the funnier side.

I liked Stephenie Meyer's writing. I thought it was good but there were two main characters and then a lot of other ones crammed into a 50 pageish story. But I still liked it. Hope that helps! :)